Largest content area · 12 practice cards
CNA basic nursing skills practice test: infection control, safety, vitals, reporting
Basic Nursing Skills is the biggest slice of the written test: 35% of the 60 scored items in the 2024 NNAAP outline, about 21 questions. They come from infection control, safety and emergencies, hands-on procedures like vital signs, and deciding what to record versus what to report.
The map
What the Basic Nursing Skills area covers
The questions test what a nurse aide does on a long-term-care unit, at entry level. At 35% of the scored items in the 2024 NNAAP outline, this area outweighs Activities of Daily Living (22%). Prometric and Headmaster/D&S use similar outlines with their own weights.
| Subtopic | What the questions ask | What the best answer usually does |
|---|---|---|
| Infection control | Hand hygiene, gloves, PPE, isolation types, linen, sharps | Breaks the chain of infection: gloves for body fluids, not for a back rub |
| Safety and emergencies | Falls, fire, choking, seizures, oxygen, restraints, body mechanics | Makes the resident safe first, then calls the nurse |
| Technical procedures | Vital signs, weight, intake and output, specimens, catheter care, range of motion | Follows the steps and stays inside the aide's role |
| Data collection and reporting | Observing, objective vs subjective, charting | Records a normal finding, reports a change |
Weights from the 2024 NNAAP written outline. Your vendor's candidate handbook has the outline for your state's test.
Hygiene, feeding and toileting live next door in Activities of Daily Living; the full outline is in the CNA study guide.
Try it first
12 basic nursing skills practice questions
Start cold: answer each card before reading the sections below, and the rationale opens on the card. These are original practice questions written in the style of the NNAAP and Prometric written tests, not questions from a real exam.
Card 1 of 12
Basic Nursing Skills
60:00
When using a fire extinguisher, the nurse aide should aim the nozzle at:
Pick an answer. The rationale flips up right here, on the back of the card.
0 right · 0 missed · 12 to go
Fits a 20-minute break
Twelve cards fit a meal break. Sit down, phone face down, water instead of a second coffee, and stop when the break ends. For all nine areas mixed, use the practice deck.
Subtopic 1
Infection control: what the questions ask
Hand hygiene is the most tested infection-control action, and the answer whenever a question asks how to stop germs moving between residents. Alcohol rub is the default. Soap and water wins when hands are visibly soiled, after the restroom, before eating, and for C. difficile or norovirus, which alcohol does not reliably kill.
Hand washing steps the test expects
- Lather for at least 20 seconds
- Fingertips pointing down so water runs off the hands
- Turn the faucet off with a clean paper towel, not your bare hand
| Gloves needed | Gloves not needed |
|---|---|
| Peri-care, bedpans and urinals | Feeding a resident |
| Emptying a drainage bag | A back rub on intact skin |
| Oral or denture care | Range-of-motion exercises |
| Broken skin or any body fluid | Transfers with a gait belt |
Gloves never replace hand hygiene: clean your hands before putting them on and after taking them off, and change them when you move from a dirty area to a clean one.
| Precaution | What you wear | Examples the test uses |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | PPE as the task requires | Every resident, every time |
| Contact | Gown and gloves | C. diff, MRSA, scabies |
| Droplet | Mask | Influenza, pertussis |
| Airborne | N95, negative-pressure room | Tuberculosis, measles, chickenpox |
On
Gown, mask, goggles or face shield, gloves last.
Off
Gloves first, then goggles, then the gown rolled dirty side in, then the mask. The gown comes off before you leave the room.
Then
Hand hygiene, even if the gloves looked clean.
The linen trap
Clean linen that touches the floor is dirty. So is unused clean linen you carried into a room; it does not go back on the cart. Hold linen away from your uniform and never shake it. Sharps go in the puncture-resistant container, never recapped.
Subtopic 2
Safety and emergencies: make the resident safe, then get help
Safety questions follow one rule: protect the resident first, then call the nurse. Safety sits above rights, scope and comfort in the order behind every keyed answer, so when two options both sound helpful, pick the one that removes the danger soonest.
| Situation | First move the test rewards | Tempting wrong move |
|---|---|---|
| Resident found on the floor | Stay and call for the nurse | Lifting them back to bed yourself |
| Resident starts to fall while walking | Ease them to the floor, protecting the head | Holding them upright |
| Fire in a room | Remove the resident (RACE: Remove, Alarm, Contain, Extinguish) | Fighting the fire first |
| Seizure | Protect the head, time it, side-lying afterwards | Holding them down or putting anything in the mouth |
| Conscious adult choking, cannot speak | Abdominal thrusts | Offering water |
| Sudden shortness of breath in bed | After calling for help, raise the head of the bed | Raising the feet |
Extinguishers follow PASS: Pull, Aim at the base, Squeeze, Sweep. Some first-aid courses now alternate back blows with abdominal thrusts, so a back-blow option is not automatically wrong.
Restraints and side rails
A restraint is a last resort: a doctor's order, the least restrictive option, frequent checks and release on the care-plan schedule, never for convenience. The quick-release tie goes on the movable bed frame, not the side rail. Side rails that stop a resident from getting out of bed count as a restraint under federal resident-rights rules, a favorite trap.
"Restrain to prevent falls"
Be suspicious of any option that says a restraint keeps the resident safe. Restraints raise the risk of pressure injuries and of falls from climbing over. Alternatives come first: scheduled toileting, a low bed, more frequent checks.
Before you walk away from any bed
- Bed in its lowest position, wheels locked
- Call light within the resident's reach
- Non-skid footwear on if they will get up
Body mechanics: lift with your legs, feet apart, load close to your body, and get a coworker when unsure. The gait belt goes on the resident's waist. Around oxygen there is no open flame, and you never change the flow rate; report problems to the nurse.
Subtopic 3
Vital signs and procedures: principles, not trivia
Vital-sign questions test technique and context more than memorized cutoffs. Learn a few anchors, the correct way to measure, and the habit of asking what the resident was doing when the reading was taken.
| Measurement | Anchor | What the question is really testing |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | About 98.6°F (37°C) average; 100.4°F (38°C) is a fever | Rectal is most accurate, axillary least; wait after a hot or cold drink before an oral reading |
| Pulse | Adult 60–100 a minute | Radial is routine; count a full minute |
| Respirations | The adult range your course taught | Count without the resident knowing, so the breathing stays natural |
| Blood pressure | Normal is under 120/80 | Right cuff size, arm at heart level, never on the side of a mastectomy, dialysis fistula or IV |
| Pulse oximetry | 95% or higher is normal | Record normal, report low. The aide never adjusts oxygen |
Why some numbers are missing
Textbooks disagree on a few cutoffs: the low end of normal respirations, temperature ranges by route, exact head-of-bed degrees. Good test items avoid hinging on those edges, so use the range your training program taught.
Expect simple intake arithmetic: 1 ounce = 30 mL, so an 8-ounce cup is 240 mL, and anything liquid at room temperature counts, gelatin and ice cream included. Daily weights: same time, same scale, similar clothing.
- Catheter care: clean from the opening outward, bag below the bladder and off the floor, never disconnect. Bag nearly empty? Check the tubing for kinks first.
- Specimens: label at the bedside; keep stool free of urine and tissue; sputum is coughed from deep in the chest, not saliva.
- Warm and cold packs: check the skin underneath often; report redness or numbness.
- Range of motion: support the joint, move slowly, stop at pain or resistance and report it.
Scope questions are free points
If the nurse asks you to insert a catheter, give medication or adjust an IV, the keyed answer is to explain that it is outside the aide's role. Your job is to observe, measure and report.
Subtopic 4
Data collection and reporting: record it or report it?
A normal finding is recorded; a change or an abnormal finding is reported to the nurse right away. Answering "tell the nurse" by reflex costs points. A resident at 96% on the oximeter, chatting comfortably, does not need the nurse paged; the reading goes in the chart.
| Finding | Your move | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Normal reading at rest | Record | Nothing changed |
| Fast breathing at rest | Report | The same rate right after a walk may be expected; context decides |
| Redness over a hip or heel that does not fade | Report; do not rub it | First sign of a pressure injury; the nurse assesses |
| Red streaks in the stool | Don't flush; report | The nurse needs to see it |
| Chest pain, drooping face, slurred speech | Report immediately | Possible heart attack or stroke |
| Shaky, sweaty, suddenly confused | Report immediately | Signs of low blood sugar |
Objective data is what you see or measure: a pulse of 88, a bruise on the left forearm. Subjective data is what the resident says, charted in their words. An option like "the resident is being difficult" is an opinion, not a fact.
Charting rules the test checks
- Facts, not opinions
- Never chart care before you give it
- Fix an error with a single line, initials and date; no correction fluid
- 24-hour clock: 8 p.m. is 2000
Where this area meets the skills test
Much of this area returns on the hands-on part, in front of an evaluator: hand hygiene, call light in reach, bed lowered, a measurement recorded correctly. Which skills you draw depends on your state and vendor; the CNA skills test guide covers the skill families and the steps checked in every one.
Pack for the physical part
Scrubs or whatever your handbook names, closed-toe non-skid shoes, hair tied back, short nails. Check whether your handbook wants a watch with a second hand for counting a pulse.
Basic nursing skills questions people ask
What skills do CNAs need?
For the exam, two kinds. The written test covers nine areas, with Basic Nursing Skills the largest: infection control, safety, vital signs and reporting. The skills test has you perform a few randomly drawn skills in front of an evaluator; the list depends on your state and vendor.
What is the most important thing a CNA does to prevent infection?
Hand hygiene, before and after every resident contact and every pair of gloves. Alcohol rub unless your hands are visibly dirty; soap and water for C. difficile or norovirus.
How many basic nursing skills questions are on the CNA test?
On the NNAAP written test, 35% of the 60 scored items, about 21. Prometric and Headmaster/D&S weight their outlines a little differently; check your vendor's candidate handbook.
Are these real CNA exam questions?
No. They are original practice questions written in the style of the NNAAP and Prometric written tests. For a timed run across every area, try the timed mock.